Dixons Carphone warns mobile business will ‘take more pain’ in coming year
Dixons Carphone has warned that its mobile business will be “taking more pain” in the coming year as it reported on its full year results.
In the year to 27 April, Dixons Carphone made a statutory pre-tax loss of £259 million compared to a profit of £289 million in the previous year. The loss was attributed to non-headline charges of £557 million.
However, group headline pre-tax profit came in at £298 million which was down from £382 million in the previous 12-month period.
Alex Baldock, Dixons Carphone group chief executive, said: “The past year has seen us keep our promises to investors, delivering around £300 million of headline profit, resilient free cash flow, and continued growth in sales and market share in UK and Ireland electricals and international. And we’ve taken the first big strides in our transformation.
“But we know we have it in us to be a much more valuable business. That will take time. In December, we set out a clear strategy to help everyone enjoy amazing technology, and early progress is promising.”
Group like-for-like revenue was up 1% in the year as electricals like-for-like revenue in the UK and Ireland edged up 1%. However, mobile like-for-like revenue in the UK and Ireland dropped by 4%. The retailer said it is now accelerating the transformation of its mobile business to meet changes in the UK marketplace. This includes speeding up the integration of mobile and electricals into one business.
Dixons Carphone expects its mobile business to make a significant loss in the coming year and at least break even within two years.
Meanwhile, international like-for-like revenue rose by 4% in the year as the retailer gained market share in electricals in all territories.
